Meet the candidates running for the Broward County School Board — there are 22 of them
With six of the nine seats on the Broward County School Board on the ballot this year, the group that oversees the sixth-largest school district in the country could change considerably.
Five seats are up for the regular election and one seat is up for special election, after Rosalind Osgood stepped down from her District 5 seat to run for the state senate District 33 seat late last year. (She won and is now a state senator.)
Of the five seats, only three incumbents are seeking reelection. Board members are elected to four-year terms and make $46,241 a year.
The primary election will be Aug. 23. If a candidate doesn’t receive at least 50% of the vote in August, a run-off will be in the Nov. 8 general election.
The deadline to qualify was noon Friday. As of Saturday, 22 candidates qualified, according to the Broward Division of Elections. They range from an 18-year-old who had served as the student representative on the board to teachers and professors, a pastor, business people and a few lawyers.
Here’s a look at who’s running:
District 1
Board member Ann Murray, first elected in 2008, announced she would not seek re-election this year to represent District 1. Three candidates, including her own daughter, are vying to replace Murray.
Marie Murray Martin
Marie Murray Martin, who grew up in West Hollywood and attended Nova Schools in Davie, didn’t mention her mother Ann in her initial campaign video. Instead, she touted her former job as education reporter at the Texarkana Gazette in northeast Texas for six years.
“I was unyielding on fiscal responsibility and always asked principals, superintendents and board members the tough questions when it came to policy and problematic decision-making,” she said.
However, on her Facebook page, she wished her mom a Happy Mother’s Day in May and told her followers: “With your support and vote on Aug. 23, I will be sworn into her seat and continue the legacy of being a ‘Strong Voice for Students.’”
She has promised to increase schools’ safety and staffers’ pay.
In 2014, Murray Martin joined BCPS and now works as a middle school teacher at Apollo Middle School, where she teaches reading, journalism and film.
She has raised nearly $7,150.
Rodney Velez
Rodney “Rod” Velez is a senior property manager at The Balogh Company, a Sawgrass-based real estate developer, according to his Facebook page.
He would like to open vocational programs for all middle and high schools like coding and home economics, reduce and improve standardized testing and improve vetting of security personnel, according to his campaign website.
Although he was born and raised in Key West, Velez graduated from McArthur High School in Hollywood. He has been married for 20 years and has two sons who attend Beachside Montessori, also in Hollywood.
He’s also involved in BCPS organizations like the Parents, Teacher, Student Association, the Student Advisory Council Committee and the District Advisory Council Committee.
He has raised about $23,400.
Paul Wiggins
Rev. Paul Wiggins, pastor of Great Mount Zion AME Church in Dania Beach, has worked for 19 years in the ministry. He also works as the CEO and president of W. Family Enterprises, Inc., a Dania Beach corporation formed in 2001 to sell residential and commercial real estate and broker mortgages, according to state business records.
Before that, Wiggins, a graduate of Florida Memorial University, South Florida’s only HBCU, spent 23 years in banking. He also served in the U.S. Army and as the executive director of the Richard Allen Leadership Academy, an all-boys elementary charter school in Miami Gardens.
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Under his “education is a community affair” slogan, Wiggins is vowing to advocate so that every child receives the same education, graduates, and then can freely decide whether to pursue a college degree or engage in vocational or technical training in high schools.
“I am running for office because I care!,” his campaign website reads. “I care for the welfare of my community.”
He’s raised about $10,500.
District 4
Lori Alhadeff, incumbent
The mom of one of the students killed in the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and a former teacher, Lori Alhadeff is running for reelection. She initially ran after her 14-year-old daughter, Alyssa, a star soccer player, was killed in the school shooting.
In 2020, her efforts led to a new state law that requires all district and charter schools to have panic alarms to cut down the response time in case of a school shooting or other emergency.
“I first ran for Broward County School Board to make schools safe, teach our students life skills and ensure teachers have the resources that they need to educate effectively,” she said on her website. “I‘m proud of all that I have accomplished, but my work is not yet done,” reads her campaign website.
She has raised nearly $91,800.
Kimberly Coward
Kimberly Coward works as an attorney with her sister, Alfreda Coward, in their practice, Coward & Coward in Fort Lauderdale. They specialize in criminal and family law and representing municipalities.
Prior to her legal career, she worked as a guidance counselor at Wesley Chapel High School and Land O’ Lakes High School in Pasco County.
Coward is an officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and helped establish One Voice Children’s Law Center, a nonprofit that represents children in legal issues.
The Herald could not find any social media profiles or websites linked to her campaign. She hasn’t raised any money.
District 5
This is an open seat after Rosalind Osgood stepped down in November to run for the state senate. In April, Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Daniel Foganholi, a Coral Springs resident, as her replacement, but he is not running.
Antonio Burgess
Antonio Burgess launched his career as a substitute third grade teacher at Charles Drew Elementary in Pompano Beach, then became a third grade teacher at Walker Elementary. He has been in the district for 13 years and now is the coordinator for mentoring initiatives and manages the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project.
He’s raised nearly $11,500.
His campaign’s priorities include improving school safety, increasing student achievement and expanding student support services, according to his campaign website.
Burgess is a product of Broward County Schools, attending Northfork Elementary School, North Andrew Gardens Elementary School, Parkway Middle School and graduating from Dillard High School. He earned a a bachelor’s in political science from Florida A&M University and received a master’s in education from Ashford University in Chandler, Arizona.
Ruth Carter-Lynch
She’s been the president and CEO of R & R Business & Political Consulting Inc., a marketing firm, since 2004. She’s also been the director of the Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools, a charter school membership association, since 2012.
In 2020, she ran for Broward County Supervisor of Elections. If elected to the school board, she pledges “to follow the rule of law, provide transparency, and always be inclusive,” according to her campaign website.
She graduated with a bachelor’s in psychology from National Louis University in Chicago and another bachelor’s in science from the now-closed Almeda University in the Caribbean.
She has raised $12,000.
Clifford Coach Sr.
The Herald could not find any information related Clifford Coach Sr., or any social media profiles or websites linked to his campaign. He hasn’t raised any money.
Jeff Holness
Jeff Holness, cousin of Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness, has worked as an associate university communications professor for more than 10 years and now is the director of Kumon Math and Reading Center, which helps children sharpen their academic skills.
He has taught at several Broward schools, including Lyons Creek Middle, Apollo Middle and Dillard Community School. He has two sons who attend BCPS.
His campaign priorities include closing the learning gaps left behind due to the pandemic, increasing the number of health professionals in schools, tightening gun control laws, limiting access to schools and addressing bullying.
He received a bachelor’s in sociology from Florida Atlantic University, then a master’s and doctorate in education from Nova Southeastern University.
He has raised $14,500.
Gloria Ann Lewis
The Herald could not find any information related to or photos of Gloria Ann Lewis, or any social media profiles or websites linked to her campaign. She has raised $6,500.
Nathalie Lynch-Walsh
Nathalie Lynch-Walsh, a certified public accountant, has been a part of the BCPS Facilities Task Force, a group that provides input to the school board about facility planning, construction and maintenance, since 2011. She’s also worked on the BCPS Audit Committee, which helps the board with fiscal management, since 2015.
“The next two years are critical to rebuilding public trust in our public school system,” she tweeted recently.
She earned a doctorate in global leadership from Lynn University and a master’s of business administration from Florida Atlantic University. She also graduated with a bachelor’s in accounting from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado.
She has raised $1,100.
Jimmy Witherspoon
After working at BCPS for nearly two decades, Jimmy Witherspoon is running for a school board seat again. He is an adviser for the district’s BRACE program, which helps students prepare for life after high school. He has also worked jobs in the cafeteria and in security.
In 2020, Witherspoon ran for the school board’s District 9 seat and lost. The Herald could not find any social media profiles or websites linked to this year’s campaign, but his 2020 bid website touts his “front-line experience.”
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His LinkedIn profile shows he launched his most recent campaign with an April 1 kick-off event. He also opened a Facebook page called “Witherspoon In 2024 Broward County School Board.”
Witherspoon graduated from Dillard Senior High School in 2000. He then attended Atlantic Technical School, where he was certified in culinary arts, and received a culinary arts degree from Johnson & Wales University. He also studied religion at Florida Memorial University, according to an article written by Witherspoon for the Sun Sentinel in 2020.
So far, he’s raised about $4,500.
District 6
After 12 years on the school board, Laurie Rich Levinson, the daughter of Broward County Commissioner Nan Rich, is not seeking reelection. Four candidates are running in the open seat.
John Christopher Canter
John Christopher Canter lives in Fort Lauderdale but has worked for the past three years as a Title I grant compliance specialist at the Palm Beach County school district. Before that, he was a middle school principal for about a year with Stride K12, a for-profit company that provides online and blended learning, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The Herald could not find any social media profiles or websites linked to his campaign. He’s raised about $80.
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Brenda Fam
Fam, a former prosecutor turned insurance lawyer, has been living in Broward for more than 30 years. She is married and has a daughter.
According to her campaign website, she believes in “respect for parental rights, and family values: and the “removal of obscene and age inappropriate materials.” She also stands for the safety of students and staff, which includes, “the ability to express a differing opinion without judgment, retaliation, ridicule, the threat of being canceled, or negative consequences.”
She has raised roughly $8,000.
Steven Julian
Steve Julian was born and raised in Plantation and is a former wrestling coach at Fort Lauderdale High. He is a graduate of American Heritage, a private school in Plantation, and Nova Southeastern University, where he received a bachelor’s in business administration.
He’s now pursuing a master’s in clinical mental health, according to his campaign bio.
“There has been a push over recent years to divert public funds to private institutions, as if the public school system is incapable of reaching the same standards and quality of many private schools,” his campaign website reads. “Steven Julian does not accept that proposition, he knows that public education can, with the right guidance and support, provide an equally excellent education.”
His mom served as a judge and his father worked as the South Florida Economic Crimes Bureau Chief for the Florida Office of the Attorney General.
He has raised about $43,500.
Merick Lewin
Merick Lewin’s wife, a BCPS high school counselor, partly introduced him to the education world, he said. The future of his 1-year-old son also inspired him to run.
He has been board chair of Take Stock in Children of Broward County, a nonprofit that pairs students with mentors and awards them a Florida Prepaid four-year scholarship upon graduation, for the past two years. He has been CEO of TriSpark Media, a marketing agency, for the past nine years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The three pillars of his campaign, according to his website: effective communication with the community, increasing students’ access to all extracurricular programs, and ensuring students have options after graduation, including college, trade schools and the military.
He has raised more than $52,200.
District 7
Merceydes Morassi
As a board-certified behavior analyst, licensed mental health counselor and adjunct psychology professor at Florida International University, Merceydes Morassi hopes to “effect a positive change upon the lives of the children of Broward County,” her website reads.
Her platform includes hiring a minimum of five to 10 mental health specialists for the district, increasing teacher pay and offering more group classes and clubs to teach coping skills to students. Contrary to recent efforts to remove books from school libraries, Morassi wants to increase the number of books available and allow parents to decide which books their child can check out through a rating scale.
“As a non-partisan organization, the school board has no business considering these suggestions,” she writes on her website.
Morassi has raised about $6,400.
Nora Rupert, incumbent
Rupert has held the District 7 seat since 2010 and has faced at least one challenger in her two reelection campaigns in 2014 and 2018.
The former English teacher said the “glaring inequities of our schools from curriculum to facilities was the impetus” for her to run for school board. Rupert has changed the district’s anti-bullying policy to include cyberbullying, and created and helped pass the state’s first anti-cyberbullying law, according to her re-election campaign website.
She has adopted three children.
She’s raised nearly $23,600.
District At Large 8
Raymond Adderly
At 18, Raymond Adderly III says it’s his life experience that “has prepared him for this moment,” such as losing his dad to gun violence and growing up with a mother who is a teacher, according to his campaign website.
A student leader at Fort Lauderdale High School and the school board’s student adviser, Adderly says he’s seen “firsthand how the voices of our community are constantly stifled and swept aside.” His platform focuses on community schools, protecting teachers, transparency and accountability and mental health, student support and safety.
He filed to run in March 2021, when he was still 17. He just graduated from Fort Lauderdale High.
He’s raised about $18,200.
Mourice Hylton
Mourice Hylton runs a scholastic chess program in Sunrise.
The Herald could not find any social media profiles or websites linked to his campaign, or any photos of him. He hasn’t raised any money.
Donna Korn, incumbent
Donna Korn was first elected to the school board in 2012 and has served as chair twice.
The former Broward teacher’s priorities include safety and security, teacher compensation and ensuring all students have the life skills needed to be “ready for the world when they leave” high school, according to her re-election campaign website. She is a founding member and past vice chair of Voices for Children of Broward County and has been a guardian ad litem.
She is a proponent of offering financial literacy and career and technical education for all students, according to her campaign website.
She’s raised about $17,800.
Allen Zeman
Allen Zeman is a political newcomer and local businessman.
Zeman previously served as a senior executive at the Pentagon and spent eight years on the Department of Defense School Board. He also chaired the Fort Lauderdale Education Advisory Board for five years, according to his campaign website.
“It’s time to close the ‘say-do’ gap. We say that every child deserves the right to a high-quality education, but we don’t always do what’s required to make that a reality,” he said on his website.
He has raised $119,005, more than any other school board candidate in Broward, records show.
This story was originally published June 19, 2022 at 11:52 AM.
